Here at the Lucas Fox blog, we use a wealth of data to examine the Barcelona luxury property market. The recent Barcelona real estate market report and its companion reports to Costa Brava and Ibiza also draw from a range of data sources in order to inform potential investors of the current state and future directions of luxury property in Barcelona and other areas of northern Spain.
We regularly receive enquiries seeking further guidance on using data to analyze the Barcelona luxury property market. A recent blog post discussed the availability and use of data about Barcelona property sales. Today, we share our views on the robustness and reliability of data about the rental market in Barcelona.
Data item: Average and Highest rental prices per m2
Source: Idealista
Data considerations: Idealista offer monthly and quarterly summaries of average rental prices based on all advertised dwellings in their housing classifieds internet site. For Barcelona, the monthly report also provides details of the highest monthly rental per m2 prices for each Barcelona district, which is useful as a price measure for luxury property in Barcelona available to rent. The following map shows idealista’s average rental prices for each Barcelona district for the end of the third quarter 2011 (July – September 2011).
Barcelona average rental prices for each district at end of third quarter 2011
Data item: Average rental process per m2
Source: Fotocasa
Data considerations: Fotocasa draws on data from its 8,000 + classified adverts for rental properties to calculate rental averages in Barcelona and provides a quarterly report with summary data for Barcelona and district level average prices. The report also provides the top 10 districts in Barcelona with the highest prices for rental properties per m2, but does not offer a full list for all districts, making it difficult to map all areas, as we tend to do in the Barcelona real estate market report.
Data item: Flight arrivals
Source: Aena
Data considerations: Flight arrivals into Barcelona provide an indication of levels of inbound tourism. Spanish airports conglomerate Aena releases monthly data on arrivals and departures at each Spanish airport. This data is indicative of levels of tourism, but of course includes residents returning form business or holiday travel, and business travellers as well as tourist arrivals. However, growth on previous year’s figures are indicative of tourist growth and when aligned with other data sources, flight arrivals can show tourism trends. It is important to note also that not all Barcelona arrivals will stay in Barcelona: many may go immediately to properties in Ibiza or to their Costa Brava villa for example. This is particularly true since Ryanair stopped flying into Girona earlier this year: a significant drop in arrivals to Girona airport does not mean that less people are travelling to Costa Brava and other areas in Girona, as many now arrive at Barcelona airport and take road transport for the final leg of their journey.
Data item: Tourism levels
Source: Spanish Institute of Industry, Tourism and Commerce
Data considerations: Monthly data on numbers of foreign and Spanish tourism are provided in summary and in detail. This data shows where tourists come from and their principal destination. Unfortunately, the detailed data does not give a truly global breakdown and lists the top 9 or 10 countries of origin for tourists and then splits the rest of tourists into groupings like “the rest of the Americas”, Nordic countries and “rest of the world”. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to notice growth areas for tourism, such as amongst Russian residents or in other emerging markets like Brazil, China or India. However, specific data requests can be made and an extensive range of statistical publications are offered for more in-depth analysis.
Data provides a fascinating and fine-grained analysis of the Barcelona luxury property market – for both property sales and rentals. This can help investors, property owners, and those looking to rent or relocate with the information needed to make prudent investment decisions. The quick and accurate availability of data is essential for any analysis of the Barcelona luxury property market and we commend the data providers for making their statistics so readily available.
What data is important to you to analyze the health and viability of Barcelona real estate and the Barcelona luxury property market in particular? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts and opinions.